Snap, Crackle, Pop

Twice each week during the fall, enthusiastic but undertrained House football teams clash in a series of games characterized by violence rather than any strict observance of gridiron etiquette. The games to decide an intramural champion are marred by a barrage of un-called penalties and totally unnecessary injuries. Ostensibly conducted under full collegiate rules, House football betrays a sandlot amateurism that threatens to execute players instead of plays.

With a casualty list of thirty-five serious injuries so far this season, House teams have a proportionately greater rate of dismemberment than the more carefully tutored Varsity. Broken ankles, mashed noses, and collar bones twisted into the shape of a pretzel turn the intramural league into a sporty abattoir. While a certain number of injuries must be expected in any sport emphasizing body contact, the large number and character of the injuries incurred by House football players seems entirely out of proportion with the type of game played in the College.

A cheerful ignorance of foul regulations and poor conditioning makes House athletes the victims of their own bruising tactics. Without any clear idea of what constitutes an illegal play, teams resort to clipping rather than clean blocking, and stop a runner by useless, dangerous gang-tackles. Some system for adequate training in the fundamentals of football and a thorough explanation of the penalty regulations would cut down on the number of injuries and improve the quality of the game. However, a more explanation of the dangers inherent in a clip or rabbit punch cannot entirely clear the field of illegal plays. A more effective system of referencing must be instituted before any real relief from the bi-weekly mayhem can be expected. With only three referees on the field as against four at every Varsity game, a large number of injury-producing fouls go undetected. More and better qualified reforces at each game would complete the program to make House football a game instead of a slug fest.

But even the most rigidly enforced penalty system cannot avert injuries when the men playing House football are in poor physical condition. When players complained of the strict conditioning program of 1942 and 1943, a softic Athletic Department cased required training and the injury list blossomed. This year with only a week and a half of pre-season practice and only one day of practice per week, players are unable to maintain the stamina and hardness necessary to avoid injury. To add further to a general picture of murderous laxity, House teams do not always observe the meager one day of practice each week, individuals neglect to tape their ankles before games, and many players never report a minor injury until it develops into a stretcher case.

While a man with a broken bone or split kidney receives the same treatment as a Varsity player, the fact that he is allowed two weeks in a hospital and all surgeons fees expense paid seems slight recompense for an avoidable injury. As long as intramural football operates on a collegiate level, there should be some attempt to prepare players for big-time games. A smaller schedule, with a total of twenty-five games and three weeks of pre-season training, would ease the pressure on teams now held to a thirty-five game schedule with only a short practice period. A conditioning program that included compulsory exercise and a rule forbidding late season entry would provide better injury protection. The present condition of House football shocked a hardened Varsity coach into revealing that "No kid of mine would ever play in that massacre."